I have a colt that's almost 8 months old, not gelded yet. I was wondering what a horse his age should know. How proficient should he be in leading, tying, etc? Want to know if we're on the right track.

I have a 7 month old colt yet to be gelded. He leads, ties, and loads. He stands for the farrier and knows how to trot in hand. He also knows how to square up, back up and yield to pressure. I've worked on desensitizing him to plastic bags, tarps, and hoola hoops. I'm also working on flexing exercises, which I'm hoping will help with his brain injury recovery as he's still reluctant to turn his head to the right. He's my cutie patootie, and very well mannered for his age :)

My 3 1/2 yr. old was born here from my mare, when he was little I worked on the haltering (on/off), leading, backing, flexing, desensitizing, lunging online (short periods of time)......with little ones you just do things in short periods because their little brains are like kids little brains LOL they get distracted so easily! Have fun! I know I enjoyed working with my baby.

I like mine to be able to stand tied, lead well, load in the trailer, pick up all feet, stand for the farrier, yield front and hind quarters, back up, walk over objects, wear saddle pads, join up, be tolerant of "scary objects" plastic sacks, whip, etc. I pony mine with my horses, take them to play days and Rodeo's let them see the sights and sounds. I'm probably forgetting something but that's the main stuff. Remember when your teaching your colt these things to work on one thing at a time. When they master in move on to learning something new the next training session. Keep the sessions short no more than 30 minutes babies have short attention spans. And don't train everyday make sure you give break days where you do nothing or just take him out and pet, brush, and talk to him. Now this is my personal opinion but you don't neccasarily have to rush to geld him. There are tons of opinions on when is the right time. But if your good about your training and teaching manners you don't usually have the studly manner problems. Thats not true of all horses but I often wonder when people say thier young stud colts act bad becuase they arent gelded I wonder how much they have worked with thier colt. I usually geld around the age of two when both testicles are down, it's easier for the surgery if both testicles are down. That way the vet doesn't have to go dig for them and I'm sure that makes surgery way more painful afterwards. I have two stud colts one that's a year and a half and he is very well behaved another that is 9 months and he is in the middle of his training lessons. I had a three year old stud TB that I bought as a project and I did a ton of work with him and you would of never known he was a stud unless you looked or I told you. He could stand right next to a mare in heat and not even bat an eyelash, that's not true of all studs but a good example that gelding isn't an instant behavior cure. Good luck with your baby! Can we get some pictures we love pictures!

Yes, theres no reason that your colt shouldn't be able to learn how to tie for 10-15 minutes at a time (start shorter), back up in hand, yield to pressure, etc. I have a two and a half month old mule filly who already is doing all three of those things (exept only 5 minutes of tying. She has a very short attention span) and she also picks up all four of her feet for me, lets me play with her ears, and is learning to be 'sent' through things. It really comes in handy as they get older! The one thing we're still working on though is leading without a butt rope. She's fantastic with the butt rope but without it, for some reason she thinks its rather funny to set back on her haunches and give me the classic mule 'sit' xD

Yes, theres no reason that your colt shouldn't be able to learn how to tie for 10-15 minutes at a time (start shorter), back up in hand, yield to pressure, etc. I have a two and a half month old mule filly who already is doing all three of those things (exept only 5 minutes of tying. She has a very short attention span) and she also picks up all four of her feet for me, lets me play with her ears, and is learning to be 'sent' through things. It really comes in handy as they get older! The one thing we're still working on though is leading without a butt rope. She's fantastic with the butt rope but without it, for some reason she thinks its rather funny to set back on her haunches and give me the classic mule 'sit' xD

Pull her at an angle and make her walk a few steps then praise. You should probably start taking away the butt rope but sounds like your already trying to do that.

haha, yes I've been a bit lazy I only started taking away the butt rope about two weeks ago. It was just so much easier xD I'll try pulling at an angle, I hadn't thought of that. I should of though, as thats what we do with the full sized guys that haven't learned to lead yet. Right now I'm just putting gentle pressure on her and increasing it until she takes a step, then release and praise- but she gets very stubborn! I think I signed up for more than I bargained for when I bought her, she's quite the smart little girl so its very hard to convince her that I'm smarter than she is. Hopefully it will work out though. She's the first baby that I've trained completely by myself although I've had tons of experience with other people's babies....mule though? Definitely a first for me.

haha, yes I've been a bit lazy I only started taking away the butt rope about two weeks ago. It was just so much easier xD I'll try pulling at an angle, I hadn't thought of that. I should of though, as thats what we do with the full sized guys that haven't learned to lead yet. Right now I'm just putting gentle pressure on her and increasing it until she takes a step, then release and praise- but she gets very stubborn! I think I signed up for more than I bargained for when I bought her, she's quite the smart little girl so its very hard to convince her that I'm smarter than she is. Hopefully it will work out though. She's the first baby that I've trained completely by myself although I've had tons of experience with other people's babies....mule though? Definitely a first for me.

Well you can still do the pressure and release just save yourselves some trouble and so it at an angle lol. Mules are smart I used to have a miniature one. He was always giving me some sort of grief. He could escape from anything.Posted via Mobile Device

I have the feeling that she's going to be one of those houdinis as well... just last week I caught her trying to crawl under her corral panels to get to he friend, Jet! LOL. She made it about half way, then got stuck. Luckily I was there to save her...now I have to figure out a way to rig it so she cant get under them xD

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